Cat rescued from air vent of traveling Ford Focus

A tabby cat, pictured here, was rescued from the air vent of a vehicle that had been driven around 80 miles. Photo courtesy of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

June 18 (UPI) -- A male tabby cat nicknamed Ford was rescued from the air vent of a traveling Ford Focus by Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The owner of the car, Steven Kane, realized that a cat was trapped inside the grill of the vehicle after he had traveled to seafront area, Clacton-on-Sea of England with his family, a two-day and close to 80 mile journey that started in Stevenage.

"He is lucky that I saw him. I have no idea where we picked up our little hitchhiker, it could have been anywhere," Kane, who had contacted the RSPCA about helping the cat, said.

"Luckily, the cat didn't appear to be injured but he was well and truly trapped. We contacted the AA who came out to carefully dismantle the car by taking out the headlights and bumper and freeing the poor moggy. He was very smelly and very hungry," said RSPCA inspector Lucy Brennan about the rescue effort.

"The AA explained that even if the cat had been trapped when the motorist was driving the car, luckily the area he was in has no moving parts and doesn't get hot when the engine is on. Having said that, it must have been quite an ordeal for poor Ford," she continued.

The RSPCA treated the cat and noted that his injured tail will need to be amputated. It is unknown if the tail was injured during his time inside the air vent or before.

Kane also said that his brother wants to adopt the feline. Ford isn't microchipped with the RSPCA noting that if no one comes forward as his owner, he will be put up for adoption.

Ford is the latest animal to be found trapped inside the body of a car. In March, an opossum was rescued from under the hood of a Florida woman's car and a Hawk was able to free itself from the grill of an SUV in Pennsylvania after police arrived on the scene.